Best Feel Good Moments

[UPRC]

Raikkonen winning the WDC was my most intense "punch the air" moment that I've ever had. I was over the moon with that one.

[Alianora La Canta]

PtA:

- Damon Hill winning Barcelona 1994 (it was the first time I'd seen my favourite driver win and Williams really, really needed it for morale after Ayrton Senna died)

- Any time I saw a Forti in 1996 (I was playing in my very first fantasy F1 game and I'd picked Forti as one of my two teams)

- The end of Monaco 1996 (firstly wondering if anyone was going to even finish the race and secondly being happy about Olivier Panis' victory)

- Damon Hill winning the 1996 world championship

- Damon losing Arrows' first win in Hungaroring 1997 to a 50p seal (typo: meant to say "Damon Hill overtaking Michael Schumacher in an Arrows at Hungaroring 1997)

- Jordan getting its 1-2 at Spa 1998 eight races after I started supporting them (Damon winning made it even sweeter)

- Jordan winning Magny-Couers and Monza 1999 (there may be a pattern here...)

- Mika Hakkinen passing Michael Schumacher in Spa 2000 with Ricardo Zonta getting the best view of the action. Such a classy pass

- Rubens Barrichello's first win at Hockenheim 2000. He looked so happy

- Giancarlo Fisichella getting 3rd at Spa in 2001

- The whole of Interlagos 2003 (apart from the computer going on the blink at the end, obviously)

- Nick Heidfeld's performance in Monaco 2004, especially the last 10 laps

- HWMSNBM's performance in Indianapolis 2004 (difficult to pinpoint an exact moment, but I remember being very excited at the result)

- Fisichella's qualifying lap in Melbourne 2005

- Giancarlo's second stint in Sepang 2006 (again, there's a pattern here)

- Giancarlo's race in Suzuka 2006

- Super Aguri in Canada 2007

- Markus Winklehock's first four laps in an F1 race in Nurburgring 2007

- Seeing Giancarlo ahead of Lewis Hamilton after some clever strategy in Interlagos 2008, and then the subsequent battle. Oh, and the whole swingabout emotional thing with the last lap (I was supporting Lewis but thought Felipe Massa handled the situation fantastically)

- Giancarlo's double overtake of Fernando Alonso and Nick Heidfeld in an inferior car at Silverstone 2009 (which I was lucky enough to see via the giant TV screens at the circuit)

- Spa 2009.

HiH (excluding FIA-related incidents or I'll be here all day):

- Michael Schumacher overtaking Damon Hill on the formation lap at Silverstone 1994 (not so much because Michael was in front of Damon but because I found it incomprehensible that I, who'd watched F1 for a year, apparently knew the rules better than someone who'd been racing in the sport for several years)

- The Hill/Schumacher crash in Adelaide 1994 (remains the weirdest way to win a world championship I've ever seen live)

- Seeing Damon pass Michael near the start of Hungaroring 1997 (typo: meant to say the 50p washer incident that stopped Damon from getting Arrows' first win)

- Ferrari managing to lose one of Eddie Irvine's wheels in Nurburgring 1999, followed by Heinz-Harald Frentzen's car breaking and a seeming curse on the leading position. Luca Badoer's retirement didn't exactly help

- The protester in Germany 2000

- Seeing four cars, including two Jordans, stuck on the start grid in the A1-Ring 2001

- Kimi Raikkonen crashing into Jean Alesi at Suzuka 2001, denying him not only a good send-off, but the possibility of completing the whole 2001 season without a DNF

- Takuma Sato and Giancarlo Fisichella colliding into each other twice (and nearly three times) in 2002

- The Ferrari team orders at A1-Ring in 2002

- The computer going on the blink at Interlagos 2003

- The start of the Indianapolis race in 2005, where 14 cars going into the pits at the end of the formation lap proved that F1 is hopeless when it comes to common sense

- Seeing Tiago Monteiro's car break down 15 laps before the end of Interlagos 2005, denying him the possibility of completing his entire rookie season without a DNF

- Seeing Raikkonen come out of the pits only 11 seconds behind Fisichella with 8 laps to go of Suzuka 2005, having already spotted that the latter's tyres were wearing out. The only surprise after that was that Kimi needed a whole four laps to get by once he caught up...

- Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro colliding into each other in Monaco 2006

- The marmot at Montreal 2007 (denying Anthony Davidson his first podium, escape from F1 Reject status and indeed his only points in F1 ever)

- The Albers fuel-hose "aero test" at Magny-Couers 2007

- My brother phoning me as the lights went out at the start of Interlagos 2007. Missing the start of a race is bad enough, but missing two of the people you're supporting's entire races (especially when it was possible it could have been Fisichella's last one) and a major setback for one of the other two had me seething

- The disasters that befell Force India in Monaco 2008 (Giancarlo's gearbox broke twice in the space of two days and Kimi collided with Adrian Sutil, leading to me walking away from the TV in disgust, logging onto a F1 chat room where I knew some sympathetic friends would be and starting with "Sorry for the steam coming out of my ears" while the commentator was rambling about Senna in the background)

- Nelson Piquet Jr. Just... ...Nelson Piquet Jr.

- The team orders at Ferrari in Hockenheim 2010.

[Londoner]

PtA:

- Damon losing Arrows' first win in Hungaroring 1997 to a 50p seal

HiH (excluding FIA-related incidents or I'll be here all day):

- Seeing Damon pass Michael near the start of Hungaroring 1997

Are you sure these two are in the right place?

[mario]

The safety car ruining the truely awesome first laps of the 2007 European GP
Hamilton cheating his way back onto the track at the same race.

It was certainly a pretty dramatic spectacle, but deploying the safety car and ultimately stopping the race was, in my mind, the right decision.
When you have a large number of marshalls in a single area, and when several cars had already aquaplaned off the track, you cannot justify risking a marshalls life for the sake of entertainment. Remember how in the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix several marshalls were lucky not to be hit by Schumacher when he spun off the road? Davidson, for example, nearly did end up aquaplaning into that gravel trap - suppose he'd been unlucky and had ploughed into that gravel trap, and possibly into a marshall?

As for the second topic of Hamilton being returned to the track. The thing is, the way that the rules were written at the time meant that the action that the marshalls took was within the letter of the regulations (whether it was within the spirit of the rules is another matter).

At the time, and as is still the case, a car is normally disqualified from the race for receiving outside assistance unless it is judged that the driver was in a dangerous position at the time. Now, given that there was a high risk of another car aquaplaning off the track at that corner, the marshalls and stewards judged Hamilton's car to be in a dangerous position, so with that clause invoked the marshalls chose to return Hamilton to the track without any penalty being applied.

Bear in mind that the section covering moving a car in a dangerous position has been in the regulations for a long time, but it wasn't until that race that a driver had been able to return to the track through the use of mechanical outside assistance. Normally a car would have either stalled or overheated in that situation - it was the first year that Mercedes had introduced their special engine mapping that allowed the cars to idle for extended periods of time without overheating - so there was no precedent for the use of mechanical outside assistance.
Where there was a precedent, though, for returning a driver to the track was from the 2003 German Grand Prix; when Schumacher spun out whilst trying to defend against Montoya, he ended up stuck in the gravel trap at Turn 8. There, three marshalls pushed him back out of the gravel trap, allowing Schumacher to continue racing and eventually finish in 5th place, with the FIA ruling that they were correct to move Schumacher's stricken car out of the way. The other irony is that few seem to be complaining about Schumacher's incident - and without the points for 5th that day, Kimi would have won the 2003 WDC.

Overall, whilst there are many other accusations which can, and have, been levelled against Hamilton, I would argue that this isn't one of the fairer ones. After all, how exactly can he be judged to be cheating when it was the marshalls who put him back on the track? Hamilton could have demanded, but not commanded, the marshalls to return him to the track, and race control, who have the power to disqualify drivers for outside assistance, deemed the stewards to be acting in accordance with the regulations as they stood at the time.

PtA:

- Damon losing Arrows' first win in Hungaroring 1997 to a 50p seal

HiH (excluding FIA-related incidents or I'll be here all day):

- Seeing Damon pass Michael near the start of Hungaroring 1997

Are you sure these two are in the right place?

Depends on your point of view, I guess. Personally, I agree that the first one was such a harsh way to loose a win, especially in the way that it came about, because you just wish that Arrows could have secured one win in their existence.

But I definitely agree with you nomination of Barrichello's win at the 2000 German GP, even if it came about in bizarre circumstances, just because of the sheer joy that he showed (and that of the rest of the paddock - his win was widely celebrated along the entire paddock, which was great to see).

[Paul Hayes]

Just a few off the top of my head...

Alesi winning in Canada in 1995.
Hill passing Schumacher in Hungary in 1997 - even though in the UK we missed it happening live because of an ad break!
Barrichello finally taking his first win, for Ferrari in Germany in 2000.
Button winning in Hungary in 2006, when it seemed he might never make it to the top step of the podium after all that early promise.
Schumacher passing Raikkonen in Brazil in 2006 - by this stage in his career I had a strange affection for the old bugger, and it was oddly heartwarming to see him fighting right to the very end. (Before the ill-advised comeback, of course).

[QuickYoda41]

At the time, and as is still the case, a car is normally disqualified from the race for receiving outside assistance unless it is judged that the driver was in a dangerous position at the time.

How ridiculous rule is that!
- Why is it an advantage to the driver when he spins out in a more dangerous place?
- How come the place is dangerous, but pushing the car back on track isn't? Deploy SC and clean the track!

Also, the examples are a bit weird, as I remember only this two driver (Schumacher, Hamilton) pushed back in the race, while I remember other drivers asking for it (at least Ralf did once, I'm sure) - also, there were at least 3 or 4 cars near Hamilton in that particular case...

And if I remember correctly, Johnny Herbert spinned out from the '98 British GP, then was pushed back but parked the car in the pits - I don't know, the rule had already existed in that time, though.

[Phoenix]

For me, it's a pure common sense matter. Hamilton was out, and he wouldn't have been able to take the car back to the track on his own. So, that means he is effectively out of the race; he can't invoke that kind of rule to get going again because that is very unfair for the other people that spin out of the track and have their cars stuck in a gravel trap. The same goes for Michael Schumacher at the 2003 German GP: his car was stuck as well, and he should have been told by the marshalls to exit his car.

[Collieafc]

...even though in the UK we missed it happening live because of an ad break!

Reminds me of another Head in Hands: Every time ITV cut the F1 feed for adverts

And another Punch the air: When BBC regained the rights

[FullMetalJack]

Hulkenberg pole.
I actually shouted. YES WILLIAMS ARE BACK!!!

So did I.

My other main "punch the air" moment was when the 2007 European Grand Prix was being led by in a way the greatest Formula 1 driver in history. Markus Winkelhock.

[europeanminardi]

basically anytime a Ferrari has an accident or a technical problem. I started watching F1 in the mid 90ies, but became a fan only during the pre-season 2002.
seing a Ferrari DNF at the time was a rare sight...

apart from that:
1. when I realised that Minardi are no reject team and that there were years when they were somewhat competitive
2. all the Michelin cars turning into the pitlane at the end of the warmup lap to the US Grand Prix 2005
3. Fisichella slowing down in the late stages of the US Grand Prix 2004, thus handing over a point to his Majesty, the great HWNSNBM.
4. Lewis Hamilton's championship in 2008
5. Takuma Sato-san overtaking Alonso in Montreal 2007
6. Christian Albers outqualifying Christian Klien in Montreal 2007 (nothing special, I know, but try being a Minardi fan for four seasons!)

I overslept and didn't see the 2002 Australian GP, other wise it would of course be on top of the list.

[Pieman]

Reminds me of another Head in Hands: Every time ITV cut the F1 feed for adverts

And another Punch the air: When BBC regained the rights

That's reminded me of another "punch the air" moment: hearing "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac for the first time in many years when F1 returned to the BBC.

[Bleu]

I think if the best option to remove the car is push then it could be done but they should get automatic black flag for that so there would be no debate why driver X got push start but driver Y didn't.

[TomWazzleshaw]

6. Christian Albers outqualifying Christian Klien in Montreal 2005 (nothing special, I know, but try being a Minardi fan for four seasons!)

I overslept and didn't see the 2002 Australian GP, other wise it would of course be on top of the list.

Fixed.

And also if you want I found a link to most of the Grand Prixs between 1996 and 2004 (aswell as all the 2010 races) but if I posted it here I might get into trouble and the website is Chinese (Although the races themselves have ITV/BBC commentry)

[Alianora La Canta]

PtA:

- Damon losing Arrows' first win in Hungaroring 1997 to a 50p seal

HiH (excluding FIA-related incidents or I'll be here all day):

- Seeing Damon pass Michael near the start of Hungaroring 1997

Are you sure these two are in the right place?

I was in a slight hurry to get the post done and must have missed this slightly obvious typo I meant Damon's pass of Michael Schumacher in the same race...

[Alianora La Canta]

At the time, and as is still the case, a car is normally disqualified from the race for receiving outside assistance unless it is judged that the driver was in a dangerous position at the time.

How ridiculous rule is that!
- Why is it an advantage to the driver when he spins out in a more dangerous place?
- How come the place is dangerous, but pushing the car back on track isn't? Deploy SC and clean the track!

The reason for the rule is that it empowers the marshals to do whatever they think is best to make the situation safe, without having to worry about the sporting consequences. Marshals can decide whether it's safer to increase the danger for a short time in order to remove the danger quicker or whether to go for the safety car option without being second-guessed by the teams (the FIA can, of course, offer criticism as appropriate, but then again its local branches probably trained the marshals in the first place...)

The Europe 2007 situation revealed the obvious problem and the regulations have since been changed. The stewards can still return a car to the track to the track, but said car can now be given a penalty to restore balance, up to and including exclusion.

[Collieafc]

The Europe 2007 situation revealed the obvious problem and the regulations have since been changed. The stewards can still return a car to the track to the track, but said car can now be given a penalty to restore balance, up to and including exclusion.

Off topic, but is there a time limit for letting teams and drivers know of the penalty? Just as it would be unfair for a driver to win only to be told that they decided to exclude him, at a meeting after the race

[Myrvold]

20 min

[tommykl]

Are you sure? I seem to remember that any race result could be altered until the end of November that same year, or something like that...

[Myrvold]

I was thinking about a penalty during a race. After the race it usually is between 30minutes and 2hours (depending on the rules) while you can appeal or protest any move/action during the race (like Ferrari vs Schumacher/Mercedes at Monaco), If you fail to do so, the results are final. Of course, things like jerez 97 or Spygate can happen, but the race results doesn't get altered:)

At least as far as I know and what I've experienced in my life

[mario]

I was thinking about a penalty during a race. After the race it usually is between 30minutes and 2hours (depending on the rules) while you can appeal or protest any move/action during the race (like Ferrari vs Schumacher/Mercedes at Monaco), If you fail to do so, the results are final. Of course, things like jerez 97 or Spygate can happen, but the race results doesn't get altered:)

At least as far as I know and what I've experienced in my life

For post race appeals, no action can be taken by the stewards themselves once they have officially announced the results of the race, which, as Myrvold says, is normally in the region of 2 hours. The only exception to the rule that the race results stand once announced would be in a case where there is some sort of major discrepancy - in that instance, a penalty can be levied, but that would be done by the FIA.
Even then, the FIA can only take action within the same year that the offence took place, and before the winner of the WDC has been officially announced. So, for example, they could not change the results of the 2008 Singapore GP, despite Piquet Jr.'s whistle blowing, because the FIA itself had agreed to the race results, and did not have the power to retrospectively change the results.

The most recent example of the latter case would be the 2005 San Marino GP, and the debate over the secondary fuel tank that the BAR-Honda team were using at the time. Basically, BAR had a supplementary fuel tank which was used to pressurise the fuel system; so, when the main fuel tank was emptied, they didn't empty the secondary tank initially ahead of the weight checks. Once the stewards came across the tank, and emptied it, it turned out that Button's car was underweight by about 5kg, although Sato's car (equipped with the same feature) was still above the weight limit.

Now, although the stewards spent about six hours questioning the BAR-Honda team, they decided that Button's car had been above the legal weight limit during the race. At that point, they announced the results, with Button in 3rd place and Sato in 5th, and they left it at that.
The FIA, however, did not; they called upon their Court of Appeal, and after hearing the evidence, decided that BAR-Honda had in fact breached the regulations by using the fuel in the secondary fuel tank as ballast. So, for the combination of Button's car being under the required dry weight limit, and the fact that the BAR-Honda team had not disclosed this secondary fuel tank to the FIA, the FIA over rode the stewards and disqualified both of the BAR-Honda's from the race, along with a two race ban.

So, in certain instances, the race results can be changed after he stewards have announced the results; however, it would require a very sizeable breach of the regulations before the FIA wanted to take any action.

[ibsey]

My favourite PTA moment was Alesi (in a Sauber) setting the pole time in qualifying for Austria 1998 with around 30 seconds of the session remaining. I lividly remember shouting (very loudly) & celebrating, like I never have done before or since. Basically I had been waiting for 3 years for a wet qualifying session as I knew Alesi would do well in it (& I could finally brag about it to my mates).......neededless to say about a minute or so later afterwards was a big HiH moment when Fisco "stole" pole from Alesi. Intense session.

My main HiH moments usually came whenever Alesi retired, normally because he was on a charge in a good position. Other than the ones that have already been mentioned here, the ones that really hurt were;

Monaco & Sliverstone 1998 ... would have finished 4th in both races but for a cruel mechincal failure around 5 laps from the flag.

Canada 1998 & 1999... Alesi was taken out of the 1st corner 3 times in 2 years...when he could have easily got a podium in a Sauber.

Monaco & Spa 2000...would have finished 3rd Monaco & 4th in Spa in a 2000 Prost.

[Myrvold]

Not a HiH at Magny-Cours 99?

[ibsey]

Not a HiH at Magny-Cours 99?

I watched this race again (for the umpteen time), quite recently... & yes it defiently was a big HiH moment. As Alesi was clearly outperforming his car to keep up with Hakkien & Barrichello in awful conditions & had a great duel with Hakkien into the Adelaide hairpin (one of my all time favourite f1 moments!).

However the main differenence in Magny-Cours 99 to the ones I mentioned above was Alesi spun off in Magny Cours 1999 because he was having a go... which is what I like to see him do & I accept occassional it will cost him a good result.

Whereas in the examples I gave above above they were all cruel mechical retirements outside of his control (usually close to the end when Alesi had got through the worst conditions in a testing race...only for the car to fail him), or in the case of Canada 1998 & 1999, another driver just being plain stupid at the 1st corner of the 1st lap of a long GP. That's why they hurt so much.

Interestingly before the start of Magny-Cours 1999, in the commentary Martin Brundle talked about Alesi having the darkest type of visor on his helmet (whereas M Schumi for instance had a clear visor) & the sun wasn't even shining, suggesting it may be a problem for Alesi. Furthermore watching how hard Alesi was pushing two laps before he spun, to close the gap to Hakkien & Barrichello (he made up some 3/4 seconds on them)...so I wasn't 100% suprised when he did spin off. The really annoying bit was that it was only 1/2 a lap from the safety car coming out because of the bad weather. Who knows what would have happened had Jean stayed on the black stuff?

[Alianora La Canta]

The Europe 2007 situation revealed the obvious problem and the regulations have since been changed. The stewards can still return a car to the track to the track, but said car can now be given a penalty to restore balance, up to and including exclusion.

Off topic, but is there a time limit for letting teams and drivers know of the penalty? Just as it would be unfair for a driver to win only to be told that they decided to exclude him, at a meeting after the race

There is a time limit. It's the same time limit as for most other stewarding decisions, i.e. closing time of the steward's office on Sunday night.

[Alianora La Canta]

Are you sure? I seem to remember that any race result could be altered until the end of November that same year, or something like that...

There is, but that's for the FIA to decide, not the stewards. There are certain limitations and forms to be observed concerning what the FIA can do about issuing penalties if the stewards said nothing at the time. Confusing but true...

[Ataxia]

PtA:

- Brawn GP winning the '09 championship
- Kobayashi at Valencia '10
- Sato passing Alonso at Canada '07
- Fisichella winning at Brazil '03
- Nick Heidfeld getting the Sauber drive after PDLR got the heave-ho.
- Every time Alonso bettered a Jaguar in '01
- The end of the 2004 season. It was awful.
- Stewart GP winning in '99.
- Ralf Schumacher calling it a day.

HiH:

- Glock slowing at Brazil '08
- The signing of Piquet Jnr for 2008.
- Hill losing out at Hungary '97
- Bahrain '10
- Yuji Ide.
- Raikkonen not quite managing the '03 and '05 titles
- Michael Schumacher making a return to F1, denying Heidfeld a seat at Merc.
- Steve Rider and ITV. And their cringeworthy rendition of 'Welcome to the Black Parade'.
- Yuji Ide a second time.
- James Allen.
- Frentzen not winning the '99 title.
- Irvine not winning the '99 title.
- Jordan getting worse each year.
- Winkelhock not winning Nurburgring '07.

That ought to cover it.

[UPRC]

Another one I just thought of is Kobayashi's charge in the final laps of Valencia last year. That was simply awesome.

[jackanderton]

Pta:

-Brazil 08' - Just for the drama. Ferrari celebrating, the rain, the chaos, the utter disbelief. There's been a lot of antipathy by Massa and Ferrari fans to Hamilton saying it wasn't deserved, but the truth was it was an even and tough fought season and either one would've been worthy champions. Hard lines for Massa who has probably missed his best chance by far, but his destiny wasn't in his own hands going into Brazil, and you can't say Hamilton, whose destiny was in his own hands and got the points required in the end- albeit in the most dramatic was possible- didn't deserve it.

-Raikkonen's and Hakkinen's 'double overtakes' on Michael Schumacher

-Anything remotely schadenfreudic happening to Michael Schumacher. I could even do a schadenfreude mini-series:

-Going out on the parade lap in his first season for Ferrari
-Jerez with his usual antics but this time failing and Williams getting the title they had stolen from them. And then having all his points for the year deleted.
-Crashing into the back of David Coulthard at Spa then trying to beat him up
-Knowing that he's now in the midfield where he can't win races but provides entertainment with his driving style and arrogance
-Pedro Diniz refusing to get out of his way then giving him the middle finger
-2002 USGP attempting to make a dead heat but messing it up
-Obstructing everyone at Monaco then being shunted to the back of the grid
-Brake-testing Montoya. Hahahahahahaha.

Ok. Non-schuey ones:

-Seeing Alonso stuck behind Petrov in Abu Dhabi, knowing that his team orders victory was worthless
-Everytime Nigel Mansell overtook Ayrton Senna. Down the back straight at Monza springs to mind. Side by side. That's my abiding image of formula one racing.
-Damon Hill winning his first race and winning the title.
-Jacques Villeneuve's maiden victory
-Olivier Panis winning at Monaco
-Sebastien Vettel winning in a Toro Rosso in the wet and being amazing in the 2nd half of 2008 generally
-Morbidelli's podium
-Every time Ukyo Katayama came on screen (it usually meant he'd overtaken someone or had a spectacular crash)
-Jenson Button winning in Monaco and doing a sprint down the middle of the start/finish straight. Genuine all around good feelings
-Trulli qualifying on pole in a Prost
-Hulkenburg's qualifying lap at Brazil, one of the most outstanding single laps of driving I've ever seen
-HWMNBM's point for Minardi in 2004, their last 'legit' point. Worth pointing out he'd have had 3 points finishes under the new rules
-Webber's 5th for Minardi in Australia. One of the great backmarker drives of all time.
-Johnny Herbert winning for Stewart and Trulli finishing 2nd in a Prost, with Barrichello's 2nd Stewart in 3rd place. Amazing
-Damon Hill in a Jordan, of course.
-And his semi-tragic but still fantastic 2nd for Arrows
-Sato's 6th in Canada for Super Aguri and frequently embarrassing Honda
-Sutil's first point in F1 for Spyker, in a race of high attrition but fully deserved
-Kamui Kobayashi literally doing anything at all


Head in hands:

-2002 and 2004 where I used my hands as a pillow to shield me from the dominance, the boredom and the knowledge that rather than go for a challenge Schumacher was just going to crush everyone in a procession from now until the end of time
-The team orders Austrian GP where Schumacher was gifted a victory
-Mansell running out of fuel in Canada
-Schumacher robbing Damon Hill of the title in 1994
-Seeing Schumacher win the title in 1993 after assistance with a change in the tyre rules, and the competitors taking points off each other
-Hakkinen's tears at Monza, still one of the most poignant and touching public collapses. On the upside it cemented him as not only an F1 legend in his own right, but a likeable one.
-Coulthard's numerous brainfades
-Badoer missing out on the points

[TomWazzleshaw]

-Seeing Schumacher win the title in 1993 after assistance with a change in the tyre rules, and the competitors taking points off each other

Wasn't quite the send-off Alain Prost wanted was it?

[jackanderton]

Haha. 1994, rather.

I was only 7 in 1993 and not much interested in the exploits of Alain Prost, especially not when the old French bloke won 7 of the first ten races. I wanted a British driver to be at the front! Then the following year, one year older I got it, and had to endure perhaps my first sample of the acidic bitterness and despair that accompanies wretched injustice.

[Shizuka]

Also, Trulli never scored a pole with Prost. He did one with Renault and two with Toyota (albeit one was US 05).

[FullMetalJack]

PTA
HWNSNBM's point
Olivier Panis winning the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix
Any point Minardi scored
Jean Alesi's only victory
Jenson Button's first victory
Kimi Raikkonen finally winning the championship
Nick Heidfeld's pass on Alonso for 2nd at the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix
Jos Verstappen running 2nd at the 2001 Malaysian Grand Prix
Jos Verstappen running in the points for Simtek
Luca Badoer running in the points at Nurb '99
Markus Winkelhock leading by a massive margin at his only race
Fisichella's pole position at Spa 2009
Piercarlo Ghinzani being sprayed with champagne by his Osella crew for qualifying for his last race
Minardi leading a race
Nico Hulkenberg's pole position
Rubens Barrichello's first win
Anytime Kobayashi is on the screen
Williams overtaking Force India for 6th in the Constructors last season
Takuma Sato overtaking Fernando Alonso
Webber on the radio "Not bad for a number 2 driver"
Giancarlo Fisichella's first win

HIH
Badoer's car breaking down at Nurb '99
Damon Hill not winning at Hungary in 1997
Schumacher colliding with Hill at Adelaide
Schumacher colliding with Villeneuve at Jerez
Austria 2002 team orders
Webber not winning the 2010 title
Fernando is faster than you
Vettel hitting Webber at Fuji '07
Rene Arnoux's blocking at Monaco in 1989

I also included moments from before I was born

[Phoenix]

I also included moments from before I was born

The 1933 Tripoli GP race fixing

[FullMetalJack]

I also included moments from before I was born

The 1933 Tripoli GP race fixing

I meant the 1989 ones.

[Cynon]

Not sure if I mentioned this here or if anyone else did... but...

Petrov's maiden podium.

[Priceless]

Found this quite interesting, so here are mine... more or less in chronological order.

Punch the Air:
- Ayrton Senna's title-deciding races in 1988 and 1991. (I was happy that Senna won in 1990 too, but that clash with Prost wasn't worthy of a PtA, I'd say)
- Ivan Capelli's 2nd in a March/Leyton House in France 1990.
- News that Giovanna Amati would be in F1 in 1992. That'd be something different... too bad she didn't qualify.
- Ayrton Senna's win at Interlagos 1993 in the McLaren-Ford, and the subsequent track invasion by the crowd.
- Rubens Barrichello's 2nd at Monaco 1997 with the Stewart.
- When Michael Schumacher's dirty tactics failed and Jacques Villeneuve won the 1997 title.
- Rubens Barrichello's win from the back of the pack in wet conditions in Germany 2000.
- Fisichella's win in that crazy race that was Brazil 2003.
- When Michael Schumacher's winning streak was finally broken in 2005.
- Super Aguri embarrassing Honda throughout 2007. Special mention to Sato's 6th in Canada with even a pass on Alonso's McLaren!
- Sebastian Vettel's win in Monza 2008 with the Toro Rosso. I think that was about the only PtA for a Vettel win for me.
- Felipe Massa's momentary hold of the 2008 title.
- Brawn GP's 2009 campaign. Felt sympathy for the white car almost devoid of sponsor logos that almost immediately takes my mind to reject teams - and they won!
- Kamui Kobayashi's performances while filling in for Glock in the end of the 2009 season.
- Rubens Barrichello's pass on Schumacher at Hungary 2010 while being squeezed against the wall.
- Each time Kamui Kobayashi passed someone in Suzuka 2010.
- Alonso getting stuck behind Petrov at Abu Dhabi 2010.
- Petrov's maiden podium at Australia 2011. Well said, Cynon.

Head in Hands (or is it the other way around?):
- Imola 1994. The whole event. That's got to be the biggest.
- Ferrari's team orders in Austria 2002.
- Juan Pablo Montoya missing out on the 2003 title.
- Schumacher running Barrichello out of the track to win the six-car "race" in Indianapolis 2005.
- When Hamilton passed Glock and clinched the 2008 title. Hamilton fully deserved it, but I was rooting for Massa.
- "Fernando-is-faster-than-you.", Germany 2010.

Guess that's all I can think of right now...

[watka]

If we were around at the time, I'm sure Giancarlo Baghetti's debut win would be a punch the air moment for us all.

[dr-baker]

If we were around at the time, I'm sure Giancarlo Baghetti's debut win would be a punch the air moment for us all.

Villeneuve nearly winning on his debut was comparable at the time, but then look at his post-championship-winning career...

[FullMetalJack]

I forgot to add top of my list for Punch the Air

My favourite driver of all time Damon Hill winning the World Championship in 1996.

[Bananaphone]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrvB9yqT4NY&feature=fvwrel

As an impressionable 13 year old fanboy, this was the greatest GP moment ever. Now even nearly 16 years later, it still is. All hail Jean Alesi

Runner up is Schumacher's comeback at Interlagos in 2006, a jaw dropping display, whether you like him or not, how good he really was.